This spring we found out that cub scouts, age 9 and above, are allowed to go to a weeklong, overnight camp. We instantly wanted Tate to go, and decided that Brian would go along with him for the beginning part of the week. Brian was psyched to go to camp as an adult, having fun alongside Tate, and be able to ease Tate into his first experience with sleep-away camp ever.
Then Brian got deployed...
We decided that Tate would still go. The cub scouts say 9 is the magical number that kids can do this on their own, and Tate is a pretty resilient kid, so we decided to stick with the plan and send him off to camp.
I hated that Brian wasn't here to pack him up; we actually kept Brian on FaceTime while Tate and I went through all our camping gear in the garage so he could help us! Brian encouraged me to pack everything into 1 backpack- there was just no way. He laughed that I was going to send him to camp with one of my roller suitcases, like he was headed to the Ritz. In my defense, the packing list they sent was pretty long!
Tate had been very enthusiastic about heading off to camp, up until the night before it was time to go. He was sad at bedtime, saying he missed Brian. I assured him he'd talk with Brian in the morning one last time before he headed to camp. Well, that did. After hearing that, the tears really came when it hit him that he wouldn't be able to talk/FaceTime with Brian ALL WEEK LONG... (The kids really do rely on that 7:30am FaceTime call from Brian to get through their days without him here)
When we were packing him up, I asked if he wanted to bring his daddy doll and he reluctantly said no. I didn't push the issue as I knew it could be awkward to bring it, but on the flip side I knew it would be comforting to have it. He was going to be staying in a 2 person tent and his roommate would be Guyton. Guyton's dad, Taylor, is the den leader, and we are friends with Taylor and his wife Amy outside of cub scouts too. The reason I was so comfortable still sending Tate to camp for 7 days without Brian (because after all, 9 is young) is because Taylor was going to be there for the entire week. Apparently not all leaders go. Who knew?
Amy and I had just had a conversation last week about how her boys still sleep with their daddy dolls from a deployment years ago. When I tucked in a tearful Tate Saturday night, I immediately sent Amy a text asking if she thought Guyton would bring along his daddy doll too. She snapped a picture of it and said of course. Sunday morning when Tate woke and came into my room, he was again excited about camp. I showed him the picture of Guyton's daddy doll and explained how he was bringing it, and instantly there was relief and joy on Tate's face and he went to pack up his!
Here he is at drop off, with a roller bag! Hey, at least it is camouflaged, right?
The four boys from our den headed to camp this week together: Tate, Guyton, Logan and CT-
Amy sent me these pictures from the first night at camp-
Oh Tate you will never know how brave I think you are. While I stayed up worrying about so much the night before you left (like will you remember to change your underwear? Put on sunscreen? Bug spray? Will you come home covered in poison ivy? Will you take the time to eat enough? Drink enough? Will you get teased or bullied? Will you choose to be safe? Show kindness to others? Be lonely? Oh buddy the list goes on and on....) I had to put on a brave face and send you off on your own Sunday morning, knowing that when I see you next Saturday, all my worrying will have been for nothing because you will probably immediately start a countdown for how many days there are left until you can go back to Camp Goshen next year!
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